1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to recycling appliances, and in particular, to appliances used by consumers for recycling aluminum beverage cans.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent times, individuals and communities have become more environmentally aware and sensitive. As a result, ecologically oriented activities, such as conservation and recycling, have become more and more commonplace. On one scale, conservation and recycling efforts are aimed at commercial activities. On another scale, such efforts are aimed at household activities. Commercial efforts are often successful due to the larger types of entities typically involved (e.g. corporations) and the relatively little effort required by any one individual. However, household conservation and recycling efforts often fail. Frequently, the reasons for such failure are based upon the inconvenience and mess associated with household recycling efforts.
In attempting to increase individuals' motivation for recycling, many communities have enacted laws requiring curbside trash separation and cash deposits on beverage containers. Other attempts have included community sponsored recycling centers where individuals can deposit materials which would otherwise end up in landfills or incinerators, and receive money based upon their scrap value.
As yet, however, the financial rewards, or penalties, as the case may be, have often been insufficient to compensate for the inconvenience and mess, whether actual or perceived, faced by individuals who participate in such recycling efforts. A common example involves the ubiquitous aluminum beverage can. Used for many beverages, the aluminum can would appear to be a prime candidate for recycling efforts due to its light weight and relatively high scrap value.
However, relative to their weight, and therefore their scrap value, empty aluminum cans require a large amount of space for storage. Furthermore, empty aluminum cans always contain, at least initially, a small amount of residual fluid. This residual fluid can cause an undesirable mess when allowed to drain from and sit among a large group of empty cans. For these reasons, many individuals simply throw away their empty aluminum cans.
To overcome the storage space problem, many forms of aluminum can crushers have been developed and are known in the art. Such can crushers provide a number of ways in which individuals can crush their empty aluminum cans, and thereby save on storage space. However, the problems associated with residual fluids draining from the crushed cans have not been solved.
Therefore, it would be desirable to have an appliance for recycling empty aluminum beverage cans which not only provided means for crushing the cans, but also provided means for dealing with the residual fluids draining from the crushed cans. It would be further desirable to have such a can recycling appliance which automatically provided the full range of household level activities required for recycling aluminum beverage cans, namely, automatic crushing, storage and draining of aluminum cans.